Secret tears Jessie's gift
by Sweet Miyamoto
Summary: What are Jessie's nightmares and hallucinations related to? Will she manage to find out the secrets hidden behind her mother's death Miyamoto and win her match against... Giovanni?
1. Sweet dreams

**SECRET TEARS. JESSIE'S GIFT.**

_**What did really happen in Jessie's past? Why does she act so strange? And what are her nightmares about? A determined Jessie tries to find the secrets about her past and her mother Miyamoto. Also in this fic, I've decided to use the dubbed name of Melissa for Miyamoto (Jessie's mother).**_

Chapter one: Sweet dreams

"_Mommy please don't leave me! Don't go to the Andes!"_

"_But Jessie you usually don't cry when I'm going on missions. Why don't you want me to go this time?"_

"_Because I know you won't come back, you'll leave me!"_

"_Jessie you know I would never leave you. You're my little angel, what scares you so much?"_

_"The cellar."_

13 YEARS LATER.

Jessie awoke from her nightmare. Once again, she had a nightmare about her past.

It was a dark summer night in Viridian Forest, the place where she and her partners were sleeping. They had found a quiet lawn not far from the path which crossed the forest. They were following the twerps and their Pikachu, like they everyday did.

Jessie looked at James and Meowth, both asleep in their own sleeping bags next to hers. Even though she didn't have any light to use, Jessie decided to go for a little walk. After her nightmare she wouldn't have slept anymore.

She could hear the weak sound of water so she walked in the direction of a small stream they had seen the previous day. It was close to the place where they were sleeping. She walked slowly under the white moonlight. Eventually, she found the stream and sat on a rock watching the dark sky.

She began to cry silently.

The forest was completely in silence. The only sounds that Jessie could hear were the weak peeping of some Pidgey accompanied by the feeble rusting of the wind and the roaring of water. The perfect place for her as she wanted to stay alone.

Jessie hated having nightmares about her past. They were the cause of her pain. All she wanted was to forget everything and live her own life. But she knew she couldn't.

It was like she had missed something. It was like her mother was trying to tell her something. It was time to find out the truth.

Jessie heard a noise coming from the bushes all around the stream. Before she could do anything, Meowth emerged from the dark.

"Stupid bushes!" the cat said.

"Meowth, what are you doing here?" Jessie asked recognizing her pokemon partner. She wiped away the tears on her face.

"Uh, Jessie? I thought you were sleeping!"

"So did I. I can't sleep tonight so I came here for a walk," Jessie answered nervously.

"Me too," Meowht answered.

They remained in silence for a little while then Meowth sat on a rock next to Jessie.

"Did you have another bad dream?" the cat noticed Jessie's tears under the moonlight.

"What makes you think that?" Jessie didn't want her friends to know that she had nightmares about her past.

"I know you still dream of your mother, Jess. Don't lie," Meowth answered calmly.

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, MEOWTH!" Jessie yelled as she stood up and turned away from him.

"But Jessie, what are you doing now?"

"I'm going back to the camp! Now leave me in peace and mind your own business!" the girl yelled as she walked through the bushes.

When she finally arrived to the camp, she put herself in her sleeping bag, tears falling down her cheeks. She didn't know if it was for anger or for depression. It would have been a restless night for her. She could think about nothing but the nightmare she had before.

The next morning they woke up early and ate something for breakfast. They had to go through Viridian Forest if they wanted to reach the twerps, as Meowth was sure that they had passed from there.

"I believe the twerps are directed to Viridian City. They want another badge," Meowth said.

It would have been another boring day without any success. Jessie knew that.

The sun was shining high in the sky. The forest had awoken together with all the creatures that populated it. Swarms of wild Pidgeots and Pidgeys crossed the sky looking for something to eat. Some Kakunas had made their nests on the trees next to the path.

Even if James was absorber in his day-dreams, he noticed Jessie's depressed mood. She was acting strange, not the same Jessie of everyday. She used to hit him with her fan, to scream at him for anything and to take all decisions by herself. But that morning Jessie had done none of those things.

When James was sure that Jessie couldn't hear him, he grabbed Meowth and put him on his shoulder.

"Meowth, I'm really worried about Jessie, I mean she has been acting strange for all the morning. I think something is bothering her, it's not usual seeing her like this," James said worried.

"Yeah I know that. Please don't be mad at her for this. I think her life's enough painful,"

"I'm not mad at her, Meowth. The only thing I want is to help her,"

"I don't think you can help her and even if you try, she won't let you do that. What I believe is that Jessie's still having nightmares about her past," Meowth answered calmly.

"What makes you think that?"

"The last night I saw her crying. I asked her what was going on but she didn't want to talk about it," the Pokemon simply said.

"I wish I could do something for her," James said as he let out a sigh.

The day passed rapidly. It was already sunset and they had not found the twerps anywhere in Viridian Forest. Another day, another failure.

The decided to rest for some minutes on a rock. Jessie looked at her partners. Meowth was laying down on the rock with his eyes closed, while James was looking inside the backpack and complaining about the food they had.

"Only two sandwiches and a bottle of water. How can we divide these?" he said almost crying.

Jessie looked silently at him. How could James complain in that situation? They were a total disaster as a team. They had never completed a mission. Not even a successful mission! And all he could do was complaining about the lack of food? Jessie wondered what was wrong between her and her partners.

"Hey, Jessie, look at that!"

Jessie's thoughts were interrupted by James' exclamation. She didn't want to give all the responsibility of their failures to James and Meowth, of course. They were in three so she knew she had to take her part in it.

She looked in the direction James was pointing at and saw a small wooden chalet. A low teak-edge surrounded it and a private path reached the entrance. There were pots with flowers on each windowsill, white curtains on the windows and even a mailbox in front of the door.

"It's very nice, James. What a wonderful place to spend the night," Mewoth was the first to reply.

"But Meowth it looks like it is already occupied," Jessie observed. Suddenly, her expression changed.

_A little girl sat alone on her bed in her room. She was crooning a lullaby while staring outside at the snow, sadly. When the door opened, she didn't turn back to see who had just come in. She already knew._

"_Hi little Jessie. How are you today?" Giovanni asked her. She had never liked that man, who was a friend of her mother._

_Jessie didn't answer him as she kept her stare at the snow falling outside. She was still crooning the lullaby._

"_Jessie? Did you hear me?" The man said calmly. He then tried to speak again._

"_I'm so sorry little Jessie… I don't now how to tell you this but…" He wasn't able to finish the sentence. But Jessie ignored him. She kept on looking outside and crooning the lullaby._

_Giovanni put a hand on her shoulder and stroked her hair._

"_Your mom… the snow killed her, Jessie. I'm so sorry, there was an avalanche and…" He tried to sound as painful as possible. Jessie slowly turned to face him with her bright blue eyes. She noticed that there were no tears as he was just pretending to cry._

"_I know… I know the truth. It wasn't the snow what killed mom. The snow can't be so evil," Jessie said determined._

"_What do you mean? You are wrong, little Jessie. The snow is evil because it killed your mom,"_

"_NO! IT'S NOT EVIL! I WANT MY MUMMY!" Jessie cried as she pulled away from Giovanni._

"_You have to face reality. She won't come back," with that, he stood up and went to exit the room but Jessie spoke again._

"_Mr. Giovanni, I'm scared,"_

"_What are you scared of, Jessie?"_

"_The cellar." _

_Giovanni was left speechless at Jessie's icy glare._

"Hey Jessie! Jessie! Are you ok?" a worried James asked her.

"You have been hallucinating," Meowth added.

"Yeah. I'm… I'm fine," a conscious Jessie answered with a feeble voice. It was like she had lost consciousness for some minute. She had been hallucinating about her past again. What a real hallucination! "Now come on, let's find out if that chalet is really occupied or not," she authoritatively said.

They made their was through the private path and then to the door.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?" a male voice interrupted them. They turned around to see the person who had just spoken.

"What are we THREE doing here!" Meowth corrected.

A tall man with light hazel hair and blue eyes was standing in front of them. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a lumberjack shirt, sunglasses on its head. He had a quite muscular build.

"I own this cabin and you are in my property," he looked like 35, maybe 40.

"Well… sorry we didn't know that," James admitted.

"That's ok… wait a moment… " he pointed to Jessie. "Why are you so familiar to me? It's like I've already met you before," he said to Jessie.

"No, I don't think so… it's impossible," Jessie said.

"Your hair… the colour of your eyes…" finally he recognized her. "You must be Jessica! Melissa's daughter!"

Jessie was almost in disbelief. "Yes, that's me… but… but who are you?"

"Maybe you were too young to remember me… I'm Jake,"

"JAKE? Oh my God… I can't believe it!" she ran to embrace her long lost friend.

"I can't believe you still remember about me, Jessie… it's been so many years…" he said still embracing her.

"James, Meowth… this is my friend Jake. He was my mother's partner in Team Rocket,"

Jake allowed them to spend the night in his chalet so they all went inside. They had a lot to talk about.


	2. Memories

Chapter two: memories

_Giovanni was sleeping in his dark room at Team Rocket Headquarters. Everything was silent except for the sound of his Persian asleep on the floor next to his bed. Suddenly, the window burst open and a cold breeze filled the room. The man awakened, then got up and went to close the window. When he turned back he let out a scream of horror._

_He saw a woman with long purple hair covering all her face so as to make it not completely visible. She wore a black rocket uniform with a red R on it._

"_No… not again.." he said terrified "Melissa… what… what are you doing here? Leave me alone… please,"_

_The woman began to walk in his direction… she kept her hair down and her head low._

"_Melissa no! No please… NOOO!"_

The powerful boss of Team Rocket awakened as he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Mr Giovanni! Sir!"

"WHAT'S THAT?" he didn't even get up to open the door.

"Sorry, we heard you screaming and we thought you were in danger," the Rocket agent said.

"NO YOU DUMBS! HOW DARE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE AND GO BACK TO YOUR ROOMS!" Giovanni yelled at his employee.

"Ok… sorry Sir… goodnight," he did as he was told.

Giovanni gave a look at his Persian on the ground as he thought about the nightmare he had before. He was sweating.

"I always see her… it… it must only have been a nightmare but… it was so real," he held his sweaty head in pain. "Oh my beloved Melissa! I'm so sorry… things could have gone in a different way," he said to himself.

Before going back to sleep, he noticed that the window was open.

Jessie awoke at the first rays of sun.

She looked around a bit confused. James and Meowth were sleeping in the same bed which was next to hers. They had spent the night at Jake's house.

Jessie got up smelling the soft fragrance of pancakes from the kitchen and went downstairs wearing her white pajamas.

"Good morning Jake," she said smiling.

"Oh, hi Jessie. It's still early," he answered turning back from the kitchen.

"Do you need any help? I'm not a good cook but if you want I can try to help you," she asked him.

"Don't worry. Take a seat. I'm cooking pancakes for you and your partners,"

"Thanks Jake. That's very nice of you,"

"You're welcome. I'm glad to help Melissa's daughter."

They stayed in silence for some minute. Then, Jake spoke.

"I actually can't believe I've met you again… after all these years. After your mother's disappearance I've desperately tried to find you but with no success," he had tears in his eyes. "Jessie, I've missed you so much," he embraced Jessie and held her close.

"I've missed you too. Besides my mother, you were the only one who truly cared about me," she began to cry.

"Jessie, I swear I've sought you everywhere. But Giovanni gave you to a foster family and didn't let me have any news about you… Jessie, I feel guilty for not keeping you with me but I couldn't find you anywhere,"

"Don't feel guilty. That's not your fault, Jake. I trust you,"

"Thanks, Jessie. I've been waiting for this moment since you were only four."

They hugged for another minute. Then, they let go.

"Jake, what are you doing in this chalet in the middle of the forest? Has Giovanni given you some kind of mission?" Jessie asked him.

"Well, actually… I'm not in Team Rocket anymore,"

"What? But… but why? I've always thought that after 'that mission' you were assigned to a new partner. After all, you were a great agent,"

"The truth is that… after Melissa's disappearance, Giovanni took over the gang after his mother. Do you remember Madam Boss? You were so young after all… I wouldn't surprise at all if you didn't remember about her," Jessie nodded a bit confused. "Well, she was so depressed when Melissa disappeared that she wasn't able to run Team Rocket anymore…" Jessie noticed a single tear on Jake's cheek. "After some weeks, Giovanni fired me,"

"But… but why? You were his best agent with my mother!"

"With your mother. But not alone. Let's just say that I found out something he wanted to keep secret," Jessie was about to speak when Jake gently placed a hand over her mouth. "You wouldn't understand, Jessie. You are not ready yet,"

"I wish I could help you Jake… you mean a lot to me,"

"Don't worry, Jessie. My revenge on Giovanni will be sweet".

Later that morning, Jake decided to help them catching some pokemon. Meowth and James told him about the twerps and their constant failures so he promised he would have caught some pokemon for them to bring to the boss. Jessie felt uncomfortable at the idea that Jake knew about all the missions they had failed. Unconsciously, she had always wanted to be like her mother. Together with Jake, she had been the best Team Rocket agent ever and they had failed not even a mission. But Jessie knew that she wasn't going to be like her. Perhaps, she wasn't cut out for Team Rocket.

"And with this, you should have enough pokemon," Jake said with a grin. He had just caught the last pokemon of the day. So Jessie, James and Meowth had 3 Tangelas, 11 Spearows, 8 Bulbasaurs, 5 Squirtles and 2 Raichus to bring to Giovanni. James and Meowth were excited.

"DONUTS DONUTS DONUTS! When we bring all these pokemon to the boss, he will give us a lot of money as a reward! And I will buy lots and lots of… DONUTS DONUTS DONUTS!"

"Yeah, and I will be his favourite pokemon again!"

"Thanks for your help, Jake," James said.

"No problem, I'm glad to be useful," he smiled satisfied. "Now let's go to my house, it's almost dinner time. You three are my guest of course,"

James and Meowth screamed in unison "YEAAAH!"

"Jake, are you sure we don't bother you? You have to cook for the three of us and…"

Jake interrupted her. "Hey Jessie, don't worry. I've just found you. I would never let my partner's daughter spend the night outside in the forest and have nothing to eat," he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Jake," Jessie smiled back and they all headed to Jake's cabin.


	3. Confession

Chapter 3: confession

During that night, Jake was awakened by a loud thud.

He thought that it must have been the sound of some pokemon outside in the forest and tried to go back to sleep. But after some minute, he heard it a second time. It sounded like a door shut.

He immediately turned on the light and stood up. He reached the hallway and gave a look downstairs. He was right, the main door was open. Jake's first thought was to go to Jessie and James's room to see if they had heard anything. He opened the door of the room where they were sleeping and saw James and Meowth soundly asleep together in the same bed… while the other bed was empty.

Jessie! Where was Jessie?

Jake rushed downstairs and practically flew out of the door. Where could Jessie have gone to? He gave a look around but it was too dark to see something. He moved some steps in the direction of the path which led to Viridian City when he finally noticed something.

He clearly saw Jessie's white nightgown on the dark background. She was going toward the lake.

At about five minutes of walk from Jake's chalet, there was a small lake. It was impossible to swim since it was too slimy and muddy and it froze in winter, but he used to go there to sunbathe in summer. Jessie was walking towards the lake.

"Jessie! Hey Jessie!" Jake screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran toward her.

It looked like Jessie had not heard him. She eventually reached the lake.

_Jessie looked around herself in the cabin._

_She was in a place in the middle of the Andes. It was snowing heavily outside._

"_Mom, where are you?" Jessie said. She was alone and scared._

_A wooden door caught her attention._

_She wanted to reach it and see what there was inside._

Finally, Jake reached the lake too and saw what he feared the most.

A sleepwalking Jessie stood near the lakeshore wearing nothing more than a white cotton nightgown.

"Jess…" he whispered as he realized she was soundly asleep. He knew very well that yelling at sleepwalking people could be dangerous for them.

Slowly, Jessie began to walk inside the lake.

_Jessie wanted to reach that door._

_She began to walk in its direction as slowly as scared._

_She had the feeling that something important was hidden behind it._

_She had to find out, whatever it was._

_She had to know the truth._

Jake ran toward Jessie and grabbed her just before she could wet her hips and gently shook her to see if she was conscious. Of course, she wasn't.

"Jessie, please wake up," he whispered to her. Jake took her outside the water and to the grass.

He felt Jessie's cold body and saw the paleness of her skin. He gently stroked her hair.

_She still wanted to open that wooden door but it was like she couldn't move._

_Something was stopping her, paralysing her._

_She tried with all of her strengths to reach the door but she was unable to move._

_Then everything went black._

"Jessie… Jessie wake up!" was all he could manage to say. He held her close to him, almost crying. Then, after some minute, he saw her eyes opening slowly.

"Jake… what… what am I doing here?" she asked in a weak voice.

"Jessie! Are you ok? I was getting worried," he said relieved.

"I… I think so. I have a splitting headache,"

He hugged her, visibly satisfied.

"What am I doing here?" she asked looking around.

"Do you want me to tell you?"

So Jake told her everything about her sleepwalk to the lake. Jessie was clearly embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry Jake… I didn't mean to scare you," she said to him.

"Don't worry. You are fine now and that's what really matters," he answered smiling.

"Jake, I feel like I have to tell you something," Jessie said. She knew she could trust Jake. He had always been her mother's best friend.

"Sure you can tell me,"

"Well… I wasn't just sleeping. I was hallucinating." Jessie told him.

"What have you been hallucinating about?"

Jessie sighed before answering. "I was in a wooden cabin. It looked like a mountain chalet. Perhaps I was in the Andes. I was alone, calling for mom, but she wasn't there. Then I saw a wooden door so I tried to reach it," Jessie explained.

"What happened next?"

"I finally reached the door. But just a moment before I could open it, everything went black. After that, I woke up,"

Jessie closed her eyes for a moment. She decided that the best thing to do was confessing the truth.

"Jake, there's something I've never told anybody," she admitted.

"You can trust me, Jessie,"

"Well… where should I begin from?" Jessie paused for a moment.

"Don't worry, Jessie. I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about," he put his hand on her shoulder and she felt relieved.

"I… I have a gift. A special gift," Jessie looked in Jake's eyes. "I can feel when something bad is going to happen. I have nightmares or hallucinations depending on it. It used to happen when I was a little girl. I felt this way even when mom left for her last mission. Somehow, I knew that she was not going to come back,"

Jake was speechless.

"Please, Jake, don't think I'm crazy. It's just that I am… more sensitive than the others. But nobody knows about it. Not even James or Meowth,"

Jake, in response, embraced her.

"Thank you, Jessie for trusting me," he said.

"There's a little more, Jake," Jessie continued. "This time, it has nothing to do with the future. It involves my past,"

"Tell me more. You said that you were in a wooden cabin. In the middle of the Andes,"

"That's correct. I think it has something to do with my mother's disappearance," Melissa, Jessie's mother had disappeared since Jessie was only four, during a mission in the Andes. Her body had never been found so nobody could actually state that she was dead. In fact, Jessie never talked about her 'death'. She used to refer to it as her 'disappearance'.

Jake's eyes went wide. "Do you have any ideas about it?"

"Jake, I… I think that she was not killed by an avalanche. I think that the avalanche is just an excuse to hide something."

They both stayed in silence for about a minute, then Jake was the one who spoke for first.

"Jessie… I think you are ready now. I've realized it right now. You are ready to know what can possibly be the truth," with that, he showed his right wrist to Jessie. She noticed a stainless steel bracelet with seven gold letters on it. They were: M E L I S S A. Jessie immediately recognized the bracelet.

"It's mom's favourite bracelet!" Jake gave it to Jessie.

"Yes, it is. I always keep it with me,"

"Jake… I'm ready. I want to know what you found out and what are the reasons for which Giovanni fired you. I'm ready to know the whole truth," with that, Jake decided to tell her everything.

"That snowy and cold afternoon… it was about 13 years ago… as you already know, we were on a mission in the Andes. We were looking for a rare pokemon called Mew. We were six Black Rockets plus Giovanni, who had come just because he was a friend of ours. We were staying at a cabin which was our base camp. We would leave every morning and come back for lunch, then leave again in the afternoon and come back for about 5 pm. But after a week we were there, Melissa began to feel sick so we decided that the best thing for her was staying in the cabin and not going out with us. God, it was so damn cold outside. Perhaps it was pneumonia. That damn afternoon… if I had known before, I would have never let her alone…" Jake had tears in his eyes.

"What do you think happened, Jake?"

"So… we had to leave after midday. But Melissa stayed in the cabin since she was sick. We headed to the Northern Mountain. It took about a hour and a half to get to the top. It was about 2.30 in the afternoon when my walkie-talkie sounded. I listened to it and I heard Melissa's voice. She said 'please Jake, come back! Please!' She had a desperate tone. I tried to contact her again on her walkie-talkie but nobody answered to it. That was the last time I heard her voice," Jake was about to cry while Jessie was listening with attention.

"She was alone in the cabin… You were all outside," Jessie said.

"Yes, but that's not the point. That afternoon, we were only the four of us. It means that…" but Jessie didn't even give him the time to finish his sentence.

"GIOVANNI!"

"Exactly. He didn't come with us. He said he would go to the nearest city," Jessie was speechless. "Anyway, when I got Melissa's call, I immediately rushed toward the cabin. I thought she was in danger. And actually, she was,"

"What did you find when you got to the cabin?"

"While I was running to the cabin I heard a loud rumble coming from the Southern Mountain. I could see nothing so I kept on running. It took almost a hour to get to the cabin. But when I opened the door, I found nobody. Melissa was not there," tears came down his cheek. "Some minute later, Giovanni arrived too. He said that there had been an avalanche and that Melissa had been trapped under it. But I know it was not the truth."

Jake was crying. Even though thirteen years had passed, he still suffered for that afternoon, when his friend and Team Rocket partner Melissa had disappeared. Nobody had seen her since that day.

"I looked everywhere inside the cabin… she was not there! When the other agents arrived too, we even looked in the slope where the avalanche had just been. But we didn't find her. She was nowhere to be found. It was like she had vanished,"

"What did Giovanni say?"

"That's the most important part. Giovanni said that Melissa had gone outside to try to reach us. But it can't be true! She was not feeling well. How could she think to go outside all alone and walk for more than an hour with those cold temperatures? She was not crazy! Trust me, I knew her. She would have never done such a thing,"

Even though they were talking about those particulars, Jessie felt determined. She wanted to know the whole truth.

"I also found her bracelet inside the cabin," Jake said.

"Where exactly?" Jessie asked.

"In the cellar," Jessie felt a shiver. She had hallucinated about a cellar before her mother left. "Jessie, if you want my opinion," Jake went on. "I personally think that… Giovanni killed Melissa."

There was a long pause. Jessie was just beginning to realize what Jake had just told her.

"Jake, I… I don't know what to say…"

"It's ok, Jessie, you don't have to worry about it. I know it's a big deal. There are lots of evidences against Giovanni. To me, it can't have been otherwise,"

"Yes, Jake you're right. Now it all makes sense".


	4. The adventure finally starts

Chapter 4: The adventure finally starts

That night Jessie ran desperately.

She ran through Viridian dark forest without stopping. She didn't even care about the branches that scratched her arms and legs and kept on running.

She wasn't cold or tired, she just wanted to run and reach her destination as soon as possible.

She didn't have a light with her so she could see nothing. Only when she stumbled on a leaning root and fell to the ground she felt the painful sensations of cold and tiredness surrounding her body.

Jake had suggested her not to go through the woods during that night but she would not listen to him. She had just realized the whole truth.

Jessie stood up as she began to run again. No matter if she was wearing just her nightgown.

Jessie ran for what was like an eternity for her. She finally got to Viridian city the following morning.

The sun had already risen while the city was slowly awakening. She could smell delicate fragrances of flowers in the air.

She finally stopped running and began to walk.

She had never liked Viridian City that much. It was quite close to the small village where she lived with her mother when she was a little girl. But she had never like it. The Headquarters, Team Rocket, Giovanni… everything had always scared her.

But that was the last time she would have looked at that city as a frightened girl. As a prisoner. From that moment on, it all would have been different. She knew the truth!

Jessie walked in the direction of Team Rocket Headquarters, her head high and her face serious. She didn't even care about the ripped and dirty nightgown she was wearing. Her hair was totally messed up. But she kept on walking.

Once she got to the Headquarters, she went towards the boss office, pretty sure to find him there.

Jessie was almost to knock on his door, when she had her first and only regret. 'What am I doing here? What if it isn't the right thing to do?'. But she took all her courage. 'I've run for all the night to get here and now I have regrets! Calm down, girl, you can do it… you MUST do it!' She said to herself. So she finally found the courage to knock on the boss' office door.

"Yes" came his reply. Jessie opened the door and went inside, facing him.

"Oh Jessica…" He said with a surprised face. "I don't think I've called you. Would you please do me the favour of explaining me what are you doing here?" He said in a calm but also sarcastic tone, almost realizing the real reason Jessie was there for.

Jessie had no idea of what to say or do. She was totally paralyzed but kept her cold stare to Giovanni.

"So, are you going to talk or what? I'm wasting my time with you, go away," Giovanni said. "Oh and Jessie, do me a favor. The next time you come here, do it wearing some decent clothes," He noticed Jessie's nightgown. But she didn't do as she was told.

Somehow, Jessie's cold stare scared Giovanni. Then, she finally spoke.

"You…" was all she could manage to say. "You did it…"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know it… You know what I'm talking about," Jessie's low and sinister voice frightened him.

Giovanni could do nothing but stare at her cold glare without saying anything. He actually knew what she was talking about and why she had come there, but he did nothing and pretended not to suspect anything. He had feared that moment for such a long time. The moment when Jessie would have discovered the truth about Melissa's death. And try to get her revenge on him.

He knew he couldn't let her escape. She was too dangerous for him.

Giovanni remembered everything perfectly.

_A little girl stood in front of him in his office at the Headquarters with her big blue eyes and her red hair down to her face. She had a teddy bear in her hands._

"_So, little Jessie. How are you today? Did you have sweet dreams?" He asked to the child pretending to sound kind and gentle._

"_You did it. Not the snow!" Jessie screamed._

"_Jessica, calm down. You know that's a lie! And you know where liars go," he said as he stood up and took Jessie in his arms._

"_NOOOO! LET ME GO! YOU DID IT! YOU KILLED HER!" Jessie screamed while she tried with all her strengths to get free from Giovanni's arms._

"_You have been a bad child lately, you have to pay for what you did. Has your mom ever told you where liars go? They go to hell, little Jessie! So you will be punished for all the lies you said."_

_He pulled away from her hands her teddy bear and locked it in a drawer. Jessie began to cry desperately. Then, Giovanni put her in a dark room and locked her inside._

Jessie still had that same look. The same cold glare of when she was that innocent little girl. Even though time had taught Jessie how to control her temper and her reactions, she had not changed her mind at all.

Giovanni, who was unsure of what to do, pressed a button and immediately two Rocket agents burst in the office. They both were Black Agents.

"You called, sir?" one of them said.

"Bring her away, she is totally crazy! Lock her in a room,"

"As you wish, sir"

They did as they were told. Jessie was locked in a room in the undergrounds.

Meanwhile, Jake had already told James and Meowth about Jessie's run during the night.

"Why haven't you informed us before, Jake? We would have gone with her," James asked as he quickly got dressed.

"Jessie wants to do this alone, she would never accept any help from you or me,"

"But what… what if she's in danger now? What is she's hurt or scared or…"

"Calm down James," Jake tried to calm him. "Jessie is a strong girl. She always manage to get out of troubles,"

Finally, Meowth cut in.

"Hey James, Jake is right," he tried to cheer his friend up. "Of course I'm worried about her, but the only thing we can do is waiting for her. She has to get out of this by herself," the cat said.

"But I… I feel like Jessie needs me now… I have to go to save her," James said as he opened the chalet door.

"James, where are you going?"

"Well, I… I don't know. Where do you think she has gone?" James asked to Jake.

"To the Headquarters, of course. I'll drive you there."

Minutes later, James and Jake were driving in the directions of Viridian city. Meowth preferred not to go with them, in case of Jessie decided to go back to Jake's house.

"Fancy car," James commented looking at Jake's black convertible Porsche Boxter.

"Thanks. I stole it from a millionaire when I left Team Rocket and came to live here. My last theft," he said smiling and driving as fast as the car could go.

"Mmmm.. My dad owned a car which was identical to this when I was young. Then it was stolen. Maybe it's just an impression, but…" James said absorbed in his thoughts.

At those words Jake gulped, so he changed the subject.

"So… tell me, how do you feel about Jessie?"

"I don't know, she's my best friend… well, you see, that's… that's not…" James found himself unable to answer the question as he was blushing deeply.

"Hey James, there's no need to deny it, it's so obvious that you are in love with her. You can tell me," he reassured him.

"Is it so evident that I'm in love with her?" he asked laughing. The two of them exchanged a smile. James felt at his comfort with Jake.

"Believe me, James… don't waste your chances. If you don't tell her about your feelings, you'll never know how she feels about you… And you will live with constant fear, until somebody brings her away from you,"

"But what if she is not in love with me? What if I'm nothing more than a friend to her?"

"At least, you'll be aware of what she thinks about you. Trust me, James… if you let your love escape, you'll have regrets forever… Remember these words: _CAR__PE DIEM_,"

"What is it?"

"That's Latin. It means 'don't let the moment escape',"

"You sound like an oracle, Jake! It looks like you have been in my situation too,"

"Actually, I have. But that was many years ago,"

"Was it Jessie's mother who you were in love with?"

"That's right. I fell in love with her while we were working together for Team Rocket. She was so beautiful and graced. I never found the courage to admit my true feelings for her… only when she disappeared, I realized I would have never known how she felt about me. It hurts, James, trust me, it hurts,"

"Have you got a picture of her?" James asked.

Jake showed to James some pictures of him and his Team Rocket partner. She had long, purple hair down to her shoulders. Her eyes were of a deep, brilliant blue and her face lines were pretty and graced.

"She was so beautiful… she looked a lot like Jessie," James said in a sad tone.

"She was only 21 when… when it all happened…"

James remained silent while Jake drove towards Viridian.


	5. More troubles for Jessie

Chapter 5: More troubles for Jessie

Jessie sat on the ground alone in her cell. She had her mother's bracelet on.

"Mom, don't worry, it all will be over soon. I promise you that Giovanni will pay," she whispered to herself putting the bracelet near her hearth and closing her eyes.

To Jessie, the revenge was so close but yet so difficult to reach. She felt like she knew everything but could do nothing.

Jessie was almost to fall asleep when she heard someone opening her cell. It was a room with no lights but a small opening on the ceiling which enabled Jessie to see all the perimeter. There was nothing inside. Just the floor, the ceiling and her.

She rose her head to see who had just come in and saw Giovanni. He walked slowly towards her, laughing.

"Do you like your new room, Jessie?" he laughed. "Oh, no problem if you don't like it. You won't stay here for a long time," he said sinisterly.

"Why are you here?" Jessie asked not scared at all.

"I thought about it many and many times… and I've come to a decision,"

"Then what is it?"

"Do you see this gun, Jessie?" he asked pulling out a gun from his pocket and showing it to her. Giovanni got closer to Jessie. His mouth was only a few inches from hers. It was like he was going to kiss her.

"I've decided that maybe it's better if you die as soon as possible. I don't want anybody to bother me again," he whispered slowly to her ear. Then, he grabbed Jessie from her collar and rose her. "I've never liked you, Jessie, even when you were an innocent little girl. I was just pretending to like you in front of Melissa…" Then, he pointed the gun to Jessie's forehead. "But before I end your life, I want to tell you a secret, even if I think you already know…".

Jessie closed her eyes. She was wrong. Her revenge wasn't close at all. She would have died there, alone and silently. Nobody would have found out about her. Just like her mother.

"Yes… Yes, it was me who killed Melissa. I killed her, I killed her, I DID KILL HER!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "I was deeply in love with her… but she refused me so many times. I wanted to make her mine. Why did she refuse me? WHY?" Jessie kept her eyes closed. "She used to say that I scared her. She didn't like me at all. But tell me, Jessie, do I scare people? Are you scared of me?" He stopped his delirium. Jessie said nothing and didn't move a muscle.

"ANSWER MEEEE!" He threw her against the wall. She fell to the ground, her nose bleeding.

"You are crazy," she whispered.

He began to laugh. He laughed thunderously.

"Also Melissa told me. We were alone in the cabin. The other agents were all out and she was the only one who remained there. I said I was going to the city… but actually I didn't," Giovanni confessed her. "I pretended to go out but I came back after a while,"

"I hate you…" Jessie said weakly. She was not sure Giovanni had heard her.

"I swear I didn't want to hurt her… I don't know what I was grabbed by. She pissed me off, it was her thousandth refusal. She had to be mine! I knew there was some chemistry between her and her partner… I should have killed him and not her!" he screamed. "Oh Melissa… my Melissa, would you ever forgive me?" Giovanni wanted to clear his conscience. "I made her mine… eventually I managed to make her mine".

Jessie spat on Giovanni's face.

"You… bitch…" he slapped her in the face. Hardly.

In response, Jessie kicked him hard in his stomach causing him to fall back on his knees. Jessie got free of his grab and ran out of the cell. She ran through the entire corridor and reached the main door of the undergrounds but when she tried to open it, she realized that it was locked from the outside. She couldn't escape. She turned back and saw Giovanni slowly walking outside the cell, holding his stomach in pain. He still had the gun pointed to Jessie.

"Is that all, girl? Is that what you can do? You won't be able to escape. I got you. Say your last prayers, Jessie." He said as he slowly walked towards her. "Oh and one last thing… say hello to your mommy for me, when you'll see her in hell".

Jessie watched in horror as Giovanni was getting closer to her… she still couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that she was going to die. She had lost her match against Giovanni.

'I'm sorry mom, I'm very sorry. I didn't make it, I tried but I didn't make it. I promised you I would have avenged you but I failed. I will pay with my life now. Please forgive me mom,' Jessie closed her eyes as she mentally talked to her mother.

Giovanni was about to pull the trigger when he heard the sound of broken glass. The man turned back to see what was going on and saw two figures jumping into the room by the window.

"Prepare for troubles!" said the first.

"Yeah, and make it double!" the other one said.

"Jake, James!" Jessie exclaimed relieved.

Both her friends smiled at her. "Hi Giovanni, do you remember me?" Jake said in a sarcastic tone.

"YOU! It's better for you to stay far away from me or I'll kill her!" Giovanni pointed again the gun at Jessie's forehead.

"Oh no, you won't," the ex Rocket agent said as he practically flew towards Giovanni and kicked the gun away from him before he could do anything. Then he took it and put it in his jacket. Giovanni had never been a good fighter.

"I'm still a good Rocket, aren't I?"

Jessie immediately ran to James and hugged him tightly. "I'm glad you've come to save me," then she gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned away before she noticed that James was almost melting on the spot.

"Hurry up, you two. We have a job to do," Jake called them and opened the locked door with a powerful kick.

"Where do you believe you are going?" a determined Giovanni yelled to them but James didn't waste time as he kicked him on the back causing him to fall unconscious.

"I've always wanted to do that," he said blushing.

Quickly, Jessie ran outside the undergrounds, James and Jake following her. They got upstairs to reach Giovanni's office.

"Let's go to Giovanni's office, I have to look for something!" Jessie said to them.

They got to the boss's office. Of course, they were alone. James had always wanted to snoop around Giovanni's office and that was his time. The large, dark office of Giovanni was probably the most extended and the most furnished room in the whole Headquarters. In front of the ebony desk, there were two chairs of the same finish. A flat computer screen on the top of the table and a gold penholder next to it. Giovanni had a more classical taste than his mother and had transformed completely what in the past had been Madam Boss's office. As long as Jessie could remember it.

Jessie reached for the desk and tried to open the only drawer but it was locked.

"Damn, I need the key!" She looked everywhere together with Jake and James. But they found nothing.

"Let me try one of my best moves," Jake announced. He kicked the ebony drawer with all his strengths and it finally got open. They all looked inside.

"I found it!" Jessie hugged what she was looking for. Her favorite teddy bear of when she was a child.

"Wait a second Jessie, that's not all. Look at these," Jake said pointing at some papers hidden in the drawer.

"What the…" the three of them widened their eyes as they saw all the pictures of Melissa that Giovanni had secretly kept. Lots of photos of her… more than a hundred! Perhaps, she didn't even know Giovanni had all those pictures. He probably had taken them all secretly.

But what they found next was more shockingly.

A poem written by Giovanni for Melissa and probably never been read by anybody. It said:

_Whenever I see you, my hearth suddenly opens_

_you are so beautiful that I don't even think you're real_

_and I just stay here _

_while I'm all shocked._

_The feelings I have for you are so huge and great,_

_don't worry my love, one day we'll run away from here_

_just me and you, going towards our fate._

_Love Giovanni._

None of them spoke. They couldn't believe that Giovanni had wanted her so much.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by someone bursting inside the office. It was Giovanni of course.

"You three are in troubles…" no matter if his nose was bleeding and his back was almost broken, he wanted to kill them because he was sure they had found out about his secret.

Jake instantly pulled out from his pocket the gun he had stolen before and pointed it to Giovanni.

"Oh, you won't do it Jake…" the boss said with a smile. Giovanni showed them a remote with an only red button on it. He kept it in his left hand.

"See this? If you don't throw away the gun right now, I'll push this button and the Headquarters will explode. It's your choice, Jake,"

"YOU BASTARD! Not only you killed my sweet beloved partner, but also you want to kill us, yourself and the rest of the Team! You are crazy Giovanni,"

"You aren't the only one who thinks it. My mother always told me that I was crazy and so did many other people. Including your sweet beloved partner. Now do what I ordered or say bye to your friends!"

So Jake threw the gun away.

"You and Jessie have to die!" Giovanni went on. "The day I fired you, almost 13 years ago, I felt so satisfied… no more bothers around! Finally, I had nobody accusing me for Melissa's death anymore. I felt free,"

"BASTARD! YOU KILLED HER!" Jake screamed. He knew he could do nothing.

Giovanni burst out laughing. "Oh, yes you are right. You and Jessie have always been right. And now that we are dieing together I can confess the truth," Jessie was crying while James held her close. "The most beautiful Rocket agent ever… the most beautiful girl I've ever met… you had to see the look on her face while I was possessing her. She was so terrified! She threatened me to tell everything to you… but she never got to see you anymore! She even threw her bracelet on the ground when we were in the cellar. What did she think to do? Perhaps she hoped that somebody could find it and realize everything," Giovanni laughed again. "I swear that I hadn't planned of killing her. It just happened. I didn't want to choke her with a belt. It was all her fault! Things could have gone in a different way if it was for me. Eventually, I threw her body in a frozen lake not far from the cabin we were staying,"

"The avalanche was just an excuse… you bastard…" Jessie said with a feeble voice.

Jake, Jessie and James more frightened than ever didn't know what to do to escape their boss.


	6. A good awakening

Chapter 6: A good awakening

Giovanni was standing in his office, holding the remote and ready to push the button.

The three of them more terrorized than anything.

James couldn't believe he was so close to death. All those years spent with Jessie and Meowth chasing the twerps… all those years. They had passed so quickly to him. He thought about the first time he had met Jessie. She looked so innocent to him, with her beautiful bright blue eyes.

He couldn't believe that those times were about to finish.

As for Jake, he was as frightened as James. He also was a bit frustrated because of Giovanni. Yeah, he would have died too, but not in the way Jake had wished. He wanted Giovanni to die a well deserved death. Slow and painful, like Melissa's.

As for Jessie, she was more sad than scared. She had lost her match against Giovanni. Definitely. The truth she had realized about her mother's death would have died with her and Giovanni would have never paid for it.

She felt she had to do something to stop her boss. But what?

Jake and James, her best friends, were about to die with her and it was only her fault. She was the one who had to think up something.

Suddenly, she saw the door of the office opening by itself.

A soft, cold wind blew inside making Jessie shiver a little. She knew what it was and just waited for it. She had understood everything.

Giovanni began to scream in terror. He was the only one who could see the woman.

_Another time._

_The same woman with purple hair dressed up in her TR uniform slowly began to walk in his direction. Her hair covering her face and making it not visible and her head low._

Giovanni's cries caught the attention of some Rocket members, who immediately came in the office.

"Sir, is everything ok?" two Black agents asked concerned.

Giovanni knelt down and held his head in pain screaming. He let go of the remote and Jake precipitated to pick it up. They were safe!

"Sir, what…"

"Go away… GO AWAY!" Giovanni ordered them. He was still holding his head in pain.

The two agents were about to leave the office but they didn't.

"No, don't leave," a determined Jessie said in a serious tone.

Normally, they wouldn't have listened to her. After all, she was a Rocket member ranked the same as them. But her voice was so serious and determinate. Plus, they felt that something strange was going on so they decided to pay attention to her.

"I have a secret to confess," she said, still serious. "Call everyone you can".

The two of them did as they were told.

Meanwhile, a screaming Giovanni was still laying on the floor in pain.

_He could see the purple haired woman getting closer and closer to him._

"No, Melissa! Leave me alone, please!" he managed several times to get on his feet but every time, he would have ended up falling on the floor, screaming and crying.

"Leave me alone, please! I'm sorry, Melissa," it was like Jessie's mother was making fun of him.

_Finally, the woman spoke to him._

"_You are going to pay for what you did". With that she disappeared the same way she had appeared._

Meanwhile, lots of Rocket members had arrived in the office.

They saw their boss in pain but nobody dared help or touch him.

"Listen everyone," Jessie began. "Some of you are certainly very young and haven't been here for a long time," everyone was listening to her. "But some others will surely remember about a Black Rocket named Melissa,"

At those words, they got surprised.

"She was the agent who was killed by an avalanche on a mission!" somebody said.

"But it was many years ago," some other agent replied.

The agents were questioning about this and that.

"Yeah, you're right," Jessie continued. "As some of you already know, she was my mother. But there's something that nobody knows,"

Jessie smiled at Jake, who smiled back. "Come on Jessie, you can do that!"

"It has to do with her death. I've discovered the truth that has been hidden for all these years. My mother's death wasn't an accident like everyone, including me, was forced to believe. She was killed! And the killer is Giovanni!"

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"No, don't listen to her! She's crazy!" Giovanni cried. Perhaps he was hoping someone would have trusted him. But it was too late.

"Look at this," Jessie showed them a belt. She had found it inside Giovanni's drawer. "Giovanni used this belt to kill my mother. And there are a lot of pictures and letters which prove Giovanni's love for my mother. A love never corresponded. That's why he killed her,"

Everybody was speechless.

"And for the rest," she continued. "She was killed inside the cabin in the Andes where she and other agents were staying during the mission. Giovanni killed her in the cellar and threw her body in an icy lake near the cabin. That's why it has never been found,"

"And nobody ever suspected about it," a Rocket agent said.

"If only we had known before,"

"Jake was right, we should have trusted him," another Rocket, who had been friend of Jake and Melissa, said before patting him on the shoulder.

Melissa had been very popular in Team Rocket and she had had a lot of friends so everyone was shocked about her death. They couldn't believe that their friend, the once former Team Rocket agent, had been killed by Giovanni.

"You're going to pay, you bastard!"

"Yeah, you shouldn't have done that!"

They yelled to Giovanni who was still crying in pain.

Jessie turned back and looked at her friends with satisfaction. It was finally over.

She embraced Jake and then James. She smiled at her partner and gave him another kiss on the cheek.

The boy blushed again but regained his composure before she could notice.

"Come on, we can go now," Jake said to Jessie and James.

Together, the three of them drove in the direction of Jake's cabin in the wood.

A tired but satisfied look on Jessie's face.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Things in Team Rocket changed rapidly after the revelation of Melissa's death.

A coalition of the best Black Rockets rebelled against Giovanni and took possession of the Headquarters.

They claimed that they didn't want to work anymore for their boss, being the killer he was.

Giovanni was held prisoner by his own employees who locked him in the undergrounds, in the same room where Jessie had been held prisoner by him.

A group of Black Rockets who in the past had known Melissa decided to go to the Andes and visit the place where she had been killed. They also wanted to look for her body in the icy lake which Jessie had told them about.

They visited the cellar and eventually found Melissa's body in the lake and brought it back to Viridian to give her an adequate burial.

And Jessie had never had hallucinations or nightmares about her past anymore.

"Good morning, Miss Jessie," a Rocket agent said as Jessie entered the undergrounds, followed by James, Jake and Meowth.

"Good morning. Where is he?" she asked. Jessie and her friends were dressed up in dark clothes. Both James and Jake wore a black suite while Jessie had a black dress with a dark vale over her face.

They were accompanied in the room where Giovanni was being held prisoner.

His hands and his feet were tied up with chains. Two agents were on guard next to him.

Giovanni had not the courage to look straight in Jessie's eyes. He spat on the ground. Jessie stopped in front of him.

She couldn't stop staring at him with disgust. The man who had ruined her life forever.

She hated him with a passion but, at the same time, she felt mercy for him.

He would have lived the rest of his entire life with a terrible remorse and with all those nightmares. After all, he pretty much deserved them.

"Miss Jessie, we think it's your right," the Rocket agents gave Jessie a gun. She knew very well what they wanted her to do.

As Jessie was staring into his eyes, motionless, she came up with a decision.

Despite her deep, justified hate for him, she couldn't do that. If she had killed him, she would have become a killer herself, just as he was. She would have felt as a murderer if she had punished him with his own blood. She decided to let him alive.

He would still have had horrible nightmares and a terrible remorse for his miserable life.

And, to Jessie, that was enough.

Everyone, including Jake, James and Meowth agreed with her decision and thought it was the best.

All the Rocket agents wanted to make Jessie their new boss so they asked her if she wanted to run the Team. But she refused. Jessie was tired of Team Rocket. Tired of everything related to her past and her mother. Tired of revenge, blood and lies.

She decided to quit Team Rocket and have nothing to do with it anymore.

James and Meowth followed her decision, as for Jake who decided to remain outside of the Team, too.

The new Team Rocket would have been the same as always, but with a different leader who kindly offered his help and availability to Jessie whenever she would have needed it.

After all, she had Team Rocket's blood running through her veins.

The four of them left Team Rocket's Headquarters for the last time in their life.

Thirty minutes later they got to a cemetery.

They got off the car and saw a procession of people all dressed up in black.

Everybody was silently crying while the priest was speaking. Even Butch and Cassidy were there.

Jessie made her way alone toward her mother's grave. All the people in silence watched her as she put a single red rose on her mother's casket and knelt down for a second.

Then, she made her way back, where her friends were waiting for her. But she saw the figure of a woman staring at her. This time, the look on her face was peaceful, revealing a beautiful smile and bright blue eyes. She looked incredibly like Jessie.

"Thanks, mom. Thanks for everything. I love you," Jessie whispered in the wind. For a moment she thought she had heard something in response.

She saw her friends and smiled lightly to them.

"We can go now," she said. She took James's hand and held it tightly.

"_Carpe diem_…" James said to himself, smiling.


End file.
